


Runes, Petals, and Other Things of Varying Importance

by ALatteMostVanilla



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Autistic Loki, Fluff, Gender-neutral pronouns for Loki, Hanahaki Disease, OH MY AUTISTIC HCS ARE IN THIS ONE I COMPLETELY FORGOT, Other, Possibly Unrequited Love, Pranks, autistic thor, gender-neutral loki, kinda?? theyre asgards equivalent to 16-17 or so here, loki is a little shit, mischief and trickery, nonbinary Loki, or at least inspired by it, that's right at the end though, young loki, young thor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-10-22 11:31:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17661764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALatteMostVanilla/pseuds/ALatteMostVanilla
Summary: thor stumbles upon loki setting up a prank, and is happily roped into itlater that day, thor finds himself dealing with something new





	Runes, Petals, and Other Things of Varying Importance

**Author's Note:**

> this is the beginning of an au that ended up being a lot bigger than this, but it's a cute little fic on its own so that's fine  
> enjoy!

“Don’t take another step!” Loki held their hand out, face split into a trademark mischievous grin.

Thor stopped in his tracks, peering into the room, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Of course, that meant very little when it came to Loki. “What’re you doing this time?”

A twinkle in their eyes answered his question, but they added, “You’ll love it.” They took careful steps through the corridor, graceful on their tiptoes, twisting and bending. Although whatever they were maneuvering around wasn’t visible. “Are you ready?”

He shrugged, smiling, “As I’ll ever be.” Despite his attempted nonchalance, his anticipation shone through as he swung his arms a little. With a wave of Loki’s hand and a shimmer of green, runes that littered the floor were revealed in a soft glow. Loki looked incredibly proud of their work, and glanced toward Thor expectedly, hoping for some kind of praise. Instead, he tilted his head to the side, “What are they?”

Loki sighed, rolling their eyes, but they were smiling. Once again they navigated their way across the room to Thor, avoiding the runes, “If you step on them, they cast a spell,” they cleared their throat, looking back at the floor, “I learned it recently. They’re no good in combat, but for fun…”

Interest piqued, Thor beamed. His smile seemed to make everything around him brighter, and if Loki wasn’t already enthused, they would have mirrored it. “Which spell?”

Excited, Loki jumped up and down, before becoming aware of it and stopping themself. Thor had noticed they didn’t jump when they were happy as much as they used to, he assumed they were told it wasn’t proper; he was told the same thing about his hand flapping. Though he didn’t really understand the point, he’d decided not to question it. Instead, Loki simply clasped their hands together as they explained, “They all cast different spells, nothing harmful I assure you! That one-“ They pointed toward one of the runes, “Will give a jolt to whoever steps on it.”

Thor leaned against the doorway, smiling, “Take inspiration from anyone for that?”

“Oh don’t flatter yourself,” They laughed, “But I guess I did. It uh, it won’t be much compared to your lightning though.” Once again they looked at the floor, scanning the runes, scrutinising.

“Probably for the best if it’s supposed to be harmless. Speaking of, who’s your target?” He narrowed his eyes in joking suspicion.

“Well…” Turning on their heel and grin growing a little wicked, they navigated back to the centre of the room, “I’ve done what I can to have Fandral, Volstagg and Hogun walk this way.”

“You didn’t-”

Loki’s eyes were alight with mischief, “They think you want to talk to them.”

“Loki!” Having temporarily forgotten their setup, Thor almost ran to them, almost.

They noticed his change in footing, snickering, “You can’t get me. I’m willing to let you join me in waiting for the unsuspecting victims, however.”

The offer was too tempting, he had a soft spot for Loki’s tricks. That and from the sound of it, Loki’s scheme would be very funny to watch unfold. Thor grinned, “Where are we waiting?”

  
Outstretching both hands, palms toward the high ceiling, Loki had a spring in their step as they strode over to Thor. “I’ll guide you.”

“Should I be trusting you with this?” Despite his question, he felt assured with his hands in theirs. Loki’s hands were pleasantly warm.

“You wound me, brother. I’m trustworthy.” Beginning to lead him to their hiding spot, each step they took was deliberate and easy to track and follow. “Or at least, you can trust me.” They winked, smirking, but sounded oddly genuine regardless.

The pair moved around the corridor elaborately, in tandem, more or less dancing around the runes. Loki occasionally diverted from their path just to giggle when they turned sharply and practically span Thor where he stood. It was hard for either of them to stop smiling, especially when they finally reached their destination. Thor understood why Loki liked causing mischief so much, even if it wasn’t his forte, it was exciting. “How long do you think they’ll be now?”

“Not long.” Returning their hands to their side, Loki ducked behind a piece of furniture, perfectly visible.

“I can still see you.” Raising an eyebrow, he joined them nonetheless, kneeling on the floor.

“I know that.” Another shimmer, and they disappeared, “Now you can’t.” Thor couldn’t see it, but he could hear the smug grin in their voice.

“Ok but I’m still-” He felt a hand on his shoulder, and then a very strange sensation. When he looked down, he couldn’t see his legs, or his hands. Not very well, anyway, there was a slight glimmer where his form caught the light.

“I can make anyone invisible now,” They sounded delighted, “You should be able to make out where you are though, like an outline for your eyes only.”

Thor nodded, then realised Loki couldn’t see it, and broke an unintentional awkward silence, “I see it,” He looked once more at his hands, “This is incredible…”

There was a moment's pause before Loki responded, “I’m glad you think so.”

  
Later that day, as he headed to his room, Thor thought back to the result of Loki’s setup. Despite his impatience, he had waited quietly with Loki until the Warriors Three entered the room. A few seconds after they had, none the wiser, stepped on several of the invisible traps, the delayed spells begun. Dull but still startling sparks of electricity, flashes of light, and noises that closely mimicked firecrackers. At first it was just one of them, but the others stopped laughing as the spells began to affect them too. Volstagg was the first to flee the room, which was in hindsight a smart decision. Hogun, disorientated, tried to fight a nonexistent attacker. Meanwhile Fandral had fell right onto the one rune that did nothing but produce a loud bang. It was loud enough and startling enough that Loki had to steady Thor lest he fell too and gave them away. It was also loud enough for Hogun to have grabbed Fandral and ran, slamming the door behind him and leaving a trail of curses.  
Thor chuckled, having a half hearted internal debate with himself whether he should tell them it was him and Loki who had set them up. He recalled that Loki was obviously very pleased with themself once it was all over. The two of them were exhilarated, laughing and joking about what had unfolded in front of them. It was a high that had lasted over an hour, and throughout it Loki had taken great joy in continuing to make Thor laugh.  
They made him laugh more than anyone else.  
In the end, he decided he wouldn’t tell his friends that he and Loki were responsible for the ordeal, it could remain a mystery. Of course, that wasn’t the only thing that happened that day, but the rest of it was all rather boring. Important conversations about important things and events and people. None of it had stuck too well, and he’d pay for that later, but for the time being he was too tired to care. When Thor got into bed, he felt a weird, almost compressed sensation in his chest. He forced a cough once, twice. It went away. So he settled again, and soon fell asleep, exhausted.

  
He awoke in the middle of the night to a coughing fit, hunched over the edge of his bed and fearing he may throw up. He didn’t. Instead he coughed up something that fluttered to the ground. When the episode subsided, his throat felt like it was set aflame, and each breath he took was ragged. Focusing, he inspected what he’d coughed up more closely. A petal.  
A curse?


End file.
